Letters for June 25, 2008

I want to first start off with saying I am not pro-pedophile or pro-sex offender but pro-Constitution [“Lockout: Sex offenders struggle with housing”; June 18, 2008; by Amy Kingsley]. I am totally against any form of abuse to any animal or human being. Anybody who commits any crime should be punished. But, once that person has done the time they were convicted under, via contract, and is off parole and/or probation, they should be able to get on with their lives without all the rules and regulations. No other criminal has to live by such draconian laws, so why sex offenders? If we must do this for sex offenders, then I think, to be fair, all criminals must be under similar rules and regulations.

When an ex-offender is forced to move from his/her home, thus having to sell it, cannot find another home within the law due to the residency “buffer” zones, gets fired from a job due to being on the registry, cannot find a new job due to being on the registry, their husband/wife lose their jobs due to a significant other being on the registry, their children lose their friends and are harassed and bullied in school due to a family member being on the registry, thus destroying the children’s lives. Ex-offenders are forced into homelessness and to live under bridges. They are harassed by police, neighbors and probation/parole officers. They have to wear “I’m a sex offender” T-shirts or have a neon green license plates on all their cars, have “sex offender” on their drivers licenses and are forced to renew their licenses every year. They are forced from shelters during tornadoes or hurricanes and cannot give blood at some places due to being discriminated against for being on the sex offender registry. Ther are routinely denied housing due to being on the registry; signs are sometimes placed in their yards, inviting harassment and ridicule from the neighbors, and they are forced to move when the neighbors start picketing outside the ex-offenders home.

The list is endless.

I think this is cruel and unusual punishment, beyond the extreme!

M Gregg

Nashville, Ga.

Mac attack

Were we even at the same show [“Friday Night Pop-rockin at Greene Street”; June 11, 2008; by Heather McIntyre]? I thought the second to last band did a great job at getting the crowd involved and I think they sounded great.

Both of us have different opinions… don’t base yours upon either of ours, check them out for yourself.

Christy

Greensboro

This was by far the best show I’ve been to at Greene Street in a long time. While All At Once, All In A Year and Ailyne were “sloppy” and boring, Jonas Sees in Color made up for it in the end. Their performances continue to fascinate me and this night was no different. The bands energy on stage is addictive. If you can’t differentiate them from other bands, you clearly just weren’t paying attention, especially if you think their music is pop.